Notes: I know
it's been a while, but yes I am continuing the series! Thank you
for your patience and your reviews; they are most appreciated.

Enjoy, and leave a
nice review.

Chapter Six: The
Awakening

Mokuba ran as fast as
he could through the sandy paths, his grayish eyes narrowed in
determination.

"I have to get that
box back," he murmured desperately, clenching his fists as he ran.
"Ryuji entrusted me with it, and I won't let him down! This is my
way to prove I'm strong...to prove I can help!"

Pearl flopped down
onto the sandy ground, her cheeks tearstained as she sniffled,
pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them close to her. Her
white dress was streaked with dirt and mud, and her legs ached from
running so much.

"Wh...why do you
have to be so me...mean?" she choked out in a frightened voice.

"Stop! Here's
the box! Just leave us alone! Leave us alone!!"

"I...I just
want it st...stop..." Pearl cried, tears flowing down her cheeks
again as she clenched her fists, laying her head down on her knees.

"You haven't
got a clue! You're such a sheltered little child that you have no
idea of the things that are going on around you! You don't know
what it's like to lose someone you care about! Your life can be
changed in an instant all because of people who just want what they
want for their greedy reasons, and they don't care about you!!"

Pearl continued
to sob as the dark, masked woman in the trees looked down at her, an
evil smile twisting over her face.

"The
annihilation begins now," she mused, leaping down from the tree,
her black cape trailing behind her as she landed with a thud on the
sandy ground a few feet in front of Pearl.

The
white-haired girl gave a startled cry, looking up at the dark-haired
woman with teary eyes.

"Wh...who are you?"
she whispered, scooting backwards, not willing to trust anyone just
yet after what had happened.

The young woman with
dark hair smiled, her eyes glinting in the moonlight that shone
through the trees.

"I am Zurui," she
murmured, stepping close to Pearl, who inched further backward. "And
you are Pearl, are you not?" she added, addressing Pearl by the
name she'd overheard Mokuba yelling before.

Pearl's brown eyes
widened, her tearful gaze rising to glance at Zurui's face, which
was obscured by the dark mask she wore.

"Ho...how did you
know?" Pearl demanded fearfully, inching further away from the
woman.

Zurui smiled beneath
her mask, sweeping up upon Pearl like a vampire bat, her black cape
nearly engulfing Pearl, who frantically tried to back up more, not
liking this woman.

"I know many things,
dear child," she mused, her eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Like
your "friend," Mokuba. He was mean to you, wasn't he? He
shouted at you when you were only trying to help him."

Pearl hesitating,
nodding slowly.

"Yeah, he yelled at
me," she sniffed, shaking in fear. "I just want all this fighting
and all the bad people to go away! I want it all to stop!" she
sobbed.

The dark woman smiled,
sweeping up upon Pearl like a bat.

"I know," she
purred soothingly, putting her slender arm around the young girl's
shoulder, realizing that the girl did not have the box she desired.
"And I can make it all stop...but I need you to help me first."

Pearl shivered at the
woman's cold touch, and hugged her knees together tightly.

"I can't do
anything..." she muttered apathetically. "I'm just in the way..."

Zurui smirked.

"You can help me,"
she continued in her soothing, convincing voice. "Tell me where
your sister and the goldsmith are," Zurui whispered in her ear,
Pearl cringing. "I need to ask them a few questions. Then you and I
can go get back at that mean Mokuba for what he did to you."

Pearl's eyes
widened and she shoved Zurui's arm off her shoulder, edging away.

"And they will be,"
she declared, rising once again, towering over the white-haired girl.

Bonez smirked, tossing
the box up into the air and grabbing it once again.

"This is perfect,"
he said aloud to his two comrades, who nodded as the group walked
along through the brush. "Master Arkana will surely trust us with
more prestigious work from now on, and once he's got all these
Millennium Items, we'll be working for the new ruler of Egypt!"

Sygore nodded,
cracking his knuckles.

"Exactly...-" he
began, but he was cut off by an angry shout from behind him.

Raising an eyebrow,
Sid turned around, the other two following his gaze over to a very
ragged and tired-looking figure who was standing behind a vine.
Angrily, the small boy thrust the vine out of his way and marched
into the clear so that he was distinctly visible in the moonlight.

"That's not
going to happen!" Mokuba declared, his black bangs blowing in
the nighttime breeze, beads of sweat dripping down his face. "I'm
taking...that box back!" he shouted, clenching his fists at his
side.

Bonez let out a laugh
of amusement.

"You and what army,
boy?" he shot back, his body glowing slightly and the Armored
Zombie Ka appeared beside him once again. "Have you forgotten what
our Ka did to you last time? Or do you just want some more?"

He grinned evilly, his
two partners calling on their Ka as well. Mokuba bit his lip,
stepping back slightly, losing his confidence all of a sudden. It was
the same setup as before. He had nothing to defend himself with, and
they'd attack him with all their spiritual power in the form of the
Ka monsters.

"Why did he think I
could do this...?" Mokuba thought miserably to himself. "Why did
he trust me? Why did anyone trust me? I'm going to let them all
down..."

Mokuba squeezed his
eyes shut. Why couldn't he have power like they did? Why couldn't
he summon his Ka, use all his spirit and strength in a physical form.
A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek as all three of the monsters
lunged for him.

"I want to help!!"
a voice screamed in his head. "I just need someone to show me
how!!"

Suddenly, there was a
blinding white light in front of him, and Mokuba ducked, putting his
arms up in front of his face as a shield. There were yells and
inhuman growls from the Ka monsters he could only hope wouldn't rip
him to shreds from all around him, and then there was a gasp of
shock.

"What is that?!"
Came Bonez astonished cry.

Mokuba suddenly felt
himself enforced by something; like part of him was growing
stronger...and fighting against the mass of Ka attacking him. There
was a tug at his spirit...at his soul, and he felt, for the first
time, true strength.

Narrowing his eyes, he
forced himself to look up at the scene, and saw to his complete
astonishment a large figure standing before the three Ka, brandishing
a long, jagged sword. The creature's eyes narrowed into white
slits, his body rugged and purple-tinged. Mokuba's gray eyes
widened as he stepped backwards, in awe of the creature in front of
him.

"It...it..." he
murmured, eyes wide. "My Ka..."

The creature turned to
look behind him, down at the small Mokuba who was standing on the
ground. Mokuba shook his head quickly, determined not to let this
chance slip through his fingers. Now it was time to prove himself!

"It's...it's a
Swordstalker Ka!!" Sid cried, backing up, the three Ka they had
summoned lunging at the single Ka of Mokuba's. "I thought this
kid couldn't summon his Ka, let alone such a powerful one!"

Bonez gritted his
teeth as the three advanced on Mokuba's Swordstalker.

"It's three on
one, we can still win!" he declared, but the words had just barely
left his mouth when the Swordstalker turned on the three beasts once
more, his jagged sword lighting up brilliantly.

Mokuba clenched his
fists, determinedly looking on at the battle.

"Swordstalker,
attack those monsters and retrieve the Millennium Puzzle Box!" he
shouted, the Ka slashing through all three of the attacking monsters
at once, destroying them in an instant.

There was a horrid cry
as the three pawns of Arkana who had been the owners of the
demolished Ka fell to the sandy ground, dead. Mokuba panted as the
dust from the attack cleared, looking up at the Swordstalker Ka in
awe.

"I...I did it..."
he thought out loud, the Swordstalker seeming to smile at him almost
as Mokuba staggered forward, feeling drained. "I really did it!"

The boy scrambled over
to the fallen Millennium Puzzle box and scooped it up, holding it
tightly in his hands. He could almost feel the magical aura rising
from it, even separated in the shards inside.

I knew you could...

Mokuba looked
up, startled. The Swordstalker Ka looked down at him once more before
vanishing back to Mokuba's soul room, having completed its duty to
his master for then.

Mokuba smiled, looking
up at the dark sky.

"Thanks," he
murmured. "I won't let them down."

End of Chapter Six

Please review! Next
update hopefully up within the next year. (Just joking, I seriously
don't know when I'll update. I'll try to make it sooner than
last!)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.